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Isabella I of Castile
Queen Isabella I of Castile is the warrior queen that united Spain with her marriage to Ferdinand of Aragon and drove the Moors and the "heretics" out of Spain for good. Most of her reign was spent on military campaigns whereby Isabella was an active participant and incorporated her role as wife and mother into her role as military leader. Her unwavering devotion to her faith saw the spread of catholicism and her patronage of explorer Christopher Columbus's voyage and subsequent gold mining in the New World saw Spain became one of the first global superpowers and became a powerful player in European politics for the next century. Isabella was hero worshipped by her daughter Catalina and was an incredible influential on how Catalina would think and later act in the novel The Constant Princess. Isabella was also responsible for the death of Teddy Plantagenet and Perkin Warback as one the conditions of Catalina and Arthur's marriage was there would be no rivals to threaten Catalina's union with arthur or her claim to the English throne. The Constant Princess Isabella is presented as the serenely calm and wise warrior queen that united Spain through her marriage and who her husband relies on as an equal and a counselor. Catalina is awestruck and completely swayed by her mother's opinions and actions and hopes to follow her mother's example. The novel begins in 1491 Grenada as the Moors raid the military camp of Queen Isabella of Castile. The young infanta Catalina watches with adoration as her warrior mother gathers her army and puts out the flames caused by the night raid. Upon her mother’s return, Catalina assures her mother that she was not afraid as she is a Spanish Princess and Princess of Wales. Catalina’s parentage and titles are incredibly important to her, even as a young child, as she prepares for her destiny as Queen of England. The morning after the raid, the Spanish generals suggest retreating due to lack of supplies but Isabella pushes the army onwards to vanquish the Moors from their last foothold in Spain. Isabella resolves their lack of shelter by commanding they build a stone fortification using the natural resources of the barren countryside. Her king, Ferdinand of Aragon acquiesces and begins work on stone structure beneath the cliff were the Moors have held the Red Fort for two centuries. Isabella and Ferdinand keep building in the unrelenting heat and against all odds until they found the siege town of Sante Fe. A short while later, Catalina comes upon one of the great Spanish lords, Don Hernando Perez del Pulgar, and convinces him to confined in her. Hernando tells her he will break into the Alhambra to worship his Catholicism in the mosque and leave an Ava Maria. Catalina promises not to sleep until he returns but when he doesn’t return it dawns on Catalina that people can fail and be killed even if she believes they have god’s blessing and it puts the first doubts about God’s favour in her mind. Fortunately, Hernando and his friends survived and regale the court with their tale of desecrating the mosque. While taking her children to see the fortifications at Zubia, Queen Isabella is informed that the full Moors army is riding out of the Red Fort in retaliation for Hernando’s desecration. Queen Isabella, unable to flee the oncoming army, takes her children to hide on a roof to see what the army intends to do. A Moor named Yarfe comes to challenge Hernado by throwing the Ava Maria back in prevocational insult. Queen Isabella leads her children in prayer that her greatest champion Garallosco de la Vega will appear to defend them and gives her blessing when he arrives to challenge Yarfe. A short battle ensues whereby Vega kills Yarfe and Yarfe’s death signals the soldiers to pour out from the Red fort. Queen Isabella once again commands her daughters to pray despite their rising panic. Queen Isabella’s composure when faced with the moor’s army is well calculated; Yarfe’s death would be the last battle against the Spanish as the Moors lose all appetite for war and gift the Red Fort, containing the beautiful palace of the Alhambra, to Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. With victory over the last of the expelled Moors, Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand begin to persecute and banish anyone that won’t convert to the Catholic faith from Spain. Catalina begins sees herself as a princess of the battlefield and firmly believes that she and her mother are favoured by God. Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand make the Alhambra their home and royal court which delights Catalina as she marvels in her surroundings. The luxury and beauty of the Alhambra make a lasting impression on Catalina and the last remaining years of her childhood are happy and tranquil compared to her early life of military campaign. Category:Characters Category:European Monarchs Category:Female Characters Category:Historical figures Category:Queens Category:Royals Category:Spanish characters Category:Deceased characters Category:Catholic characters